The problem has a few variations: - most often: you're cruising at 25-30, and the engine is doing little work; then, the engine goes quiet, and the gas pedal stops producing power -- the car starts slowing down, and soon after the engine shuts off- less often: power cuts out as you're accelerating after being stopped at a signal, or as you're going through a turn at low speed -- these are dangerous situations, because you cannot maneuver until the engine restarts- a couple of times: you've stopped at a signal, and the engine briefly runs rough or even stops

Lately, the engine has been sounding smooth through all this, with the only symptoms being the sudden loss of gas pedal response, the engine going quiet, and engine shutoff soon after that.

Sometimes, but not always, one can recover from the problem by quickly pressing down the gas. On a successful recovery, this is followed by a half-second of silence, followed by a rev of the engine and a partial recovery of power. However, after powering through such hiccups, the car is very prone to having more problems in the next few minutes. Sometimes, such as in tight turns, it is too dangerous to try to recover by rapid acceleration, and in these cases, the engine goes dead if not revved soon after the hesitation.

In a recent instance, the car was repeatedly losing power over about 10 minutes:

1) While gradually accelerating into a left turn on a 4-lane road, after starting from a signal. I was driving for about 3 minutes after having the car parked in a sunny spot on a warm day for 2 hours. I pulled over into the left lane, turned off the engine, and restarted the car. Sometimes, the problem goes away after such a treatment, but in this case, it did not.

2) A minute or two later, I was accelerating from a signal, and midway through the intersection, the car completely stopped responding to the gas pedal (I pumped it a few times). I was trying to change into the right lane with the remaining 5-10mph of speed, right after the light. Right-lane traffic was not letting me go, so I was basically stopped... and then at one last desperate pump of the gas pedal, the engine revved and recovered.

3) For the remainder of the drive, I tried to rev the engine to above 2500-3000rpm (hard to say without an indicator) regularly, and the car did not stall, although it did seem a bit iffy.

In another recent instance, I was about 20 minutes into looking for parking in a crowded area (so lots of slow driving), in warm sunny weather, when the engine stalled suddenly as I was making a slow right turn into a slight incline. It restarted with no subsequent issues.

In another recent instance, the car was parked in 55 F weather, at night (no rain), for about an hour after a 20-minute drive, and about 2 minutes into the return drive, it went through a series of hesitations and near-stalls (saved by accelerating), until finally coming to a dead stop on a stop sign. There were no further issues after re-starting the engine.

On occasion, the problem happens after a cold start in the morning, but more frequently (as described above) it happens after driving somewhere, and leaving the car for a couple of hours. It has happened both in chilly weather and hot.

Despite all this, most of the time, the car runs smoothly, and several shops have declined to look at it because they don't see any issues on casual examination. They say: If I cannot see it, I cannot fix it. However, it does tend to happen at least every 30 miles, and sometimes much more frequently (practically every day for the past few days).

The first time the problem happened was several years ago, but then it did not recur for 2-3 years. It started in earnest, and has been gradually getting worse over the last year. No check engine light or warning light is on, and the mechanics see no codes on the computer.

There problem _might_ be more likely to occur on a nearly-empty tank. At any rate, in the last 1.5 tanks of gas, all the major problems were happening when the tank was under 1/4 full, with smaller hesitations and almost no stalls in the top 25% of the tank. I am not sure if this effect is for real, or just a recent coincidence.

I would like a local mechanic to definitively fix the problem, because right now, driving the car feels like playing Russian roulette -- you never know if you are going to cause an accident by stalling out in a high-traffic area.

@dandyoun, thanks so much for the hint -- unfortunately, I've already
called Hyundai, and they told me that both recall services for this vehicle
had been done in 2000 / 2001.
So, it's probably something else.

We are having the same problem with our 2003 Elantra. It can get
terrible when it is hot, which it certainly is this week. Any ideas? We
have had it to our mechanic multiple times and he has replaced
various things. He recommended using high octane fuel, and that did
help for a while. Then it seemed like perhaps it was a transmission
issue, so we put some transmission fluid booster in, but now that it is
so hot, the fuel and additives aren't enough.

FINALLY !! I was going crazy with my moms n 2003 Elantra . It was the fuel injectors but they had too be removed and cleaned thoroughly. we didn't think it was that cause the dealer cleaned them but with a machine not manually. Car is running SUPER SMOOTH !!!!!

The engine light doesn't go on when my car stalls it's happened quit a lot
and even the dealership has no clue why. So far 1 accident and 2 times
in the dealership due to stalling with no answer as to why yet.

i have a 2001 Elantra doing the EXACT same thing. have replaced plugs and wires, coil pack, had the timing belt done several years ago - currently changing the camshaft sensor but don't have much faith in that

For the owner who originally posted this...did you ever figure out what
the issue was? I have a 2013 Elantra Limited that is doing the same
exact thing...we have noticed that it typically does not happen unless
the range is under 60 miles so when the tank has about 2 gallons left.
It almost always happens when making a right turn and sometimes
when going on a straight course. Basically if you're coasting and then
give the car gas to speed up it either hesitates or just completely
dies...the car is at the dealership now and of course they have not
been able to recreate the problem but it died on my daughter when she
turned onto a main road just two miles from the dealership. Any
suggestions? They haven't got a clue bcz the diagnostic computer
can't figure it out for them. they had the car for 6 1/2 hours today.

No, we've never figured it out. The likeliest suspects would be in the
fuel system: some of the injection machinery / sensors, the fuel pump,
or something having to do with the gas tank / fuel filter / fuel supply.
If it's definitely affected by how full the gas tank is, the pieces near the
gas tank become the prime suspects: fuel pump, filter, and anything
else that would be affected by the pressure diffierence between full
and empty, increased amounts of dirt, increased supply variability due
to fuel sloshing, etc. I *think* that the pressure past the fuel pump
should be fairly independent from your fuel levels, but I'm not a
mechanic.
Given how new your car is, I would be pretty surprised if there is gunk
in the gas tank, or issues with the fuel filter (unless somebody put a
bunch of trash in your tank). Maybe it's a problem with a fuel pump, its
wiring, or electronics?
I didn't bother trying to replacing the fuel pump on the 1999 Elantra
because with the high cost of labor around here, the cost of the repair
would be over a third of the cost of the entire car :D
With respect to the various sensors, I think we ruled out the MAF and
its wiring harness. Several mechanics played with some of the other
sensors as well, and did not find an issue.

My issue was solved. Two fuel
injectors needed to be replaced and
the speed sensor was causing the
stalling, which eventually led to the
transmission going into 'limp mode'
which is how we found out the
sensor was bad.

Hey, we just got the 2013 Elantra Limited, which had the same exact problem. I'm her daughter.
The guys at the dealership were thankfully able to recreate the problem multiple times. They found that it typically stalled when coasting straight and that the engine cuts out entirely more often when turning right and pressing the gas.
They examined the fuel pump and found a crack in it. Since replacing the pump, the car has functioned perfectly fine, even after I attempted to make it stall or cut out multiple times while at a gallon of gas or less. When the gas runs low again, we will attempt to make the car stall to test that the problem is repaired. I will let you know if we find that there is still a problem.

I used lucas fuel injector cleaner and it worked, debri in gas tank when 1/4 of gas in tank. took a trip to NY and it ran fine last fill up was at 1/4 i think debri clogged it up again when got home it stalled, like yours. Charcoal canisters get clogged look into that as well.

B4 you do anything to your cars
make sure you don't have gps
tracker with stall meaning kill switch
on it because I had reduce engine
seed and my car did not wanna
starts at times it would turn and turn
and it would not start and when it
start it would stall and turn off
watch for these car financing scams
and don't fall to such a victim pull
that shit off.. i fix my problem with
removing the gps tracker here's
how.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?
v=jEWpb7xOAHI

OP? Has anyone checked your
cat(s) could be broken down and
clogging your exhaust and affecting
back pressure which "could" cause
all sorts of weird acceleration and
low idle problems. Your car may
have 2 cats as so does my 03.
"Usually" a bad cat throws a CEL
though? Just a thought

Hi everyone. I recently purchased a 2014 Hyundai elantra limited and same exact thing is happening. cars pedal doesn't respond and car idles every time I get to a complete stop. the car has been at the delearship several of times and they do not have a clue of what the problem might be. I tried having Hyundai repurchased my car but they didn't, supposedly because they never duplicated the problem. at this point I don't know what to do. I need some help. please let me know if you guys were able to find the problem and get it fixed or any advise of the steps I should take. i'll really appreciate it.

I have a 2007 Elantra that stalls occasionally when going at low speed
such as preparing to turn or when going down a hill with very little or no
throttle. The fuel pump and filter have been replaced. No engine light on
beforehand and no codes. Temperature is not a factor. Dealer is stumped.
Can you give any help?

I just purchased 2014 Elantra limited. I was on stop and go traffic on the freeway, certainly the car doesn't respond to gas pedal and the engine stopped. I was so panic, I put the gear back to park, turned off and on the car (keyless) several times then it turned on again.
Is there a recall on this issue? I should purchase Toyota or Honda car instead, so disappointed in Hundai.

I have a 2010 Elantra Touring GLS, standard. My car just started doing this. I was in stop&go traffic on the freeway when it started dying, but it could be restarted. When I got off the freeway and was slowing to a light it stopped entirely and would not restart. after coasting down a hill and pulling over, I got it to restart but then it hovered around 1000rpm and just DIED. It wouldn't restart at all. By the time CAA got there, it started fine and stayed running fine. It has been at the dealer for days and of course, they cannot repeat the problem. I am having them look at everything listed here and hopefully they will find the problem. I have suspected the catalytic converter since the engine/exhaust started intermittently making loud noises at high speed/revs after gas tank fill... of course they never found an issue. I will post results if they find anything out.

Hey guys, always look for the simple stuff. Inspect any and all
vacuum lines for cracks or a hole on the underside of the line. I helped
a friend with a 2000 or 2002 Elantra and from limited memory it was
the catalytic converter. The new one only came with the manifold, but
it seems like it wasn't really that expensive and the bonus points: I
took the old cat converter to a recycler and got about $45 bones for it.
by the way, no mechanic could figure it out and no codes. This fixed
it.

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